Networks such as the Internet have become popular because they allow the user to access a virtually unlimited amount of information. Similarly, a user's local computing device also typically includes a large trove of information. However, as the amount of available content increases, it can be increasingly difficult for the user to locate content that is particularly relevant and interesting. For example, search engines require the user to enter open a new window or tab and formulate a phrase or question in order to obtain a list of results. If the results are not satisfactory, the user invests additional time and effort in refining the query. The user might give up and skip the entire process due to these difficulties. Moreover, such user-formulated searches are typically simplistic in that only a few quickly chosen words are provided by the user. This places the burden of locating information on the user.
When a user is viewing content such as a web page, the user can select hyperlinks to other web pages. However, the process of clicking through many links can be time confusing and disorienting as the user loses track of the original content which was viewed. Moreover, there is no guarantee that such a manually intensive process will even result in finding related content. Again, a significant burden is placed on the user and the experience is not optimized.
Techniques are need for optimizing a user's ability to access relevant and interesting content when interacting with a computing device.